Election turnout at 95 pc, AEC says

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) says it appears that more than 95 per cent of voters cast a ballot at the federal election.

The AEC says the number of people signing up to vote was also strong, with enrolments almost double those in the year leading up to the 2004 election.

AEC spokesman Phil Diak says the informal vote also appears to be down compared to three years ago.

"We've also had the largest increase in people enrol for this election since the 1993 election, so engagement on that level certainly has been strong in terms of participating in this election," he said.

"At this stage we're heading over 95 per cent for turnout in our estimation but we won't really know until we've counted all the votes."

Free trade is the oldest argument in federal politics and the issue that literally defined the federation era but opposition exists to the TPP, courtesy of the Investor-State Dispute Resolutions clause.